The Lost Swordsman
by Jabrax13
Summary: After saving his captain from an enemy captain, Roronoa Zoro wakes up to find himself as a colorful talking horse in a world filled with other colorful talking horses, unicorns and pegasus. Will his nakama be able to find and bring him home or will Zoro find another family and goal in these joyful little ponies. Pairings later.
1. Chapter 1

Fighting rocked the Thousand Sunny as the Straw Hat Pirates clashed with a rival crew. The enemy's ship had been destroyed long ago so the crews were now restricted to the Sunny's deck. Although each member of the Straw Hats were powerful in their own right, they were outnumbered by a group of slightly less powerful pirates. The fights were spread out all over the deck of the Sunny but the biggest was happening right in the middle of the lawn deck between Monkey D. Luffy and the captain of the Void Pirates, Torane Rikaru.

Rikaru was a man of over nine feet tall and a member of the Longarm tribe. He had pales skin, long black hair that reached his mid back, and was wearing a completely black outfit that blended in with itself to where no one could tell where one part of his clothing ended and another began. He was apparently a master of haki as he kept dodging each of Luffy's attack; only dodging. It was starting to make Luffy angry how this guy wouldn't fight him and instead kept provoking him with a wide grin and comments. "What's a matter Straw Hat!? Can't you hid little old me" laughed Rikaru as he barely dodged another of Luffy's punches.

"Stand still!" yelled Luffy.

"Well since you asked so nicely" shrugged Rikaru as he finally stopped moving. When Luffy went to attack him however, the Void captain muttered something under his breath and a colorful circle opened up in his torso. Luffy; unable to stop his rocket attack in time, found both of his stretched out arms stuck in the man's body and could feel himself being pulled towards his enemy.

"W-what the hell!" screamed Luffy as he desperately tried to pull himself free.

Nearby, Roronoa Zoro heard his captain's yell and when he saw that Luffy was being pulled into the enemy pirate decided to finish his own enemy quickly and help his captain. Unfortunately his opponent was a cloaked man who appeared to be fighting with some sea-stone chains and said man had both of the Santoryu user's katana wrapped up in those damn chains. Zoro knew that he could cut his way through the chains; training with Mihawk for those two long years had taught him how to cut through plenty of enemies, but after seeing how quickly Luffy was being dragged into the seemingly empty rival captain Zoro had to make a choice.

It didn't take him long however as the swordsman released his grip on Sandai Kitetsu and Shusui and dashed towards his captain. Thanks to his speed Zoro was able to reach Luffy just in time and use his monstrous strength to help yank his captain away from the enemy. Unfortunately, Zoro seemed to have used a bit too much strength and once his captain was free, Luffy was sent flying into a nearby wall with his head going through it.

"Ahhhh Sunny!" screamed Franky who, along with the others who've seemingly finished up their fights, reached the various guard rails surrounding the lawn deck.

"Zoro you idiot!" yelled Nami.

"What if you killed Luffy!" panicked Usopp.

"Ahhhh, I can't cure death!" cried Chopper.

"He's rubber you idiots!" yelled Sanji.

Usopp and Chopper released a sigh at being reminded of that.

"Unless a splintered plank pierced his brain and killed him" stated Robin morbidly in her usual calm demeanor.

"Yohohoho! You're so dark Robin-san!" laughed Brook.

"Would you idiots just calm down!" yelled Zoro, as he took Wado Ichimonji out of his mouth and re sheathed it. They then all saw Luffy pushing against the wall trying to yank his head out from the hole. "There you see, he's fi-" Zoro stopped mid-sentence as he slashed away one sea-stone chain only to be constricted by a number of others. The swordsman looked over and saw the cloaked, chain using enemy that he'd been fighting before smirking at him. "Damn it! You piece of sh-"

"Body slam!" yelled a familiar voice from behind Zoro but when the swordsman turned around to see who had yelled all he saw was black.

Zoro groaned as a splitting head ache coursed through his head. In an attempt to at least calm the quaking in his head the swordsman reached a hand up to his fore head. It was then that Zoro felt something that wasn't a hand touch his forehead, it was definitely attached to him from what he could feel past his head pain but it wasn't what was supposed to be his hand. Finally deciding to open his eyes Zoro found himself staring straight at a dark green furred hoof. "Great, I'm a horse now" muttered the green _horse_. He then sprung up to his back hooves only to fall onto all fours. "What the hell am I a horse!?" he yelled.

After a few minutes of trying to figure this out with a still pulsing headache the swordspony looked around and saw a nearby pond. _Trotting_ over to it the former man looking over his reflection and saw that he was covered in a dark green coat with his hair and new tail retaining his usual moss green color. His scars were all still there including the one over his left eye as well as his bandanna; which was tied around his left fore hoof, his three sheaths, although they were all empty, and his haramaki was still around his stomach. It was went he looked a little closer in the water though that he saw a familiar white katana laying beneath it.

"At least I still have this" he sighed but when he tried to grab it however he remembered that he didn't have thumbs anymore. "Damn it" growled Zoro before he breathed in and plunged his head into the water. After only a few seconds of grabbing Wado with his mouth, (looks like his fighting style came in handy) the green maned stallion placed it, with some difficulty back into its sheath.

Glancing around once more, Zoro saw that there was a dirt road nearby and decided that that's where he should go. "The others can come find me when they get here so I might as well find out where the hell I am." With that the swordspony started his trek down the road to where ever it would lead him. Until he walked right off of the road a few minutes later thinking that it moved somewhere else on him.

**- Back with the Straw Hats**

All of the Straw Hats; except for Luffy who was still stuck in the wall, stood in shock as their green haired nakama seemingly vanished beneath the enemy captain. Said captain was cackling happily at having gotten one of the infamous Straw Hat Pirates while his cloaked subordinate simply smirked. "W-w-where the hell did Zoro go?" stuttered Usopp.

"What did you do to him you bastards?" asked Franky in a rage after he got over his shock.

"Hololololo!" laughed Rikaru. "I sent him to one of my many different dimensions. For you see I ate the Void-Void Fruit, which allows me to open portals to a huge number of different dimensions and I just sent your friend to one of them. Hololololo!"

"Well now you're going to bring him back" demanded Sanji. "Unless you want me to broil you alive."

"Perhaps I could assist you in tenderizing the meat Sanji-san" offered Robin as she bloomed hands all over their remaining enemies; ready to break them at any time, with three hands placed over the mouth of Rikaru to keep him from using his devil fruit ability to summon another void.

"And I could help with the dicing" suggested Brook seriously. "Yohohoho! That would be fun!"

"Alright guys you're all scaring me a little" stated Nami, freaked out by her friend's dark suggestions.

"Us too" whimpered a shivering Usopp and Chopper.

They were all interrupted though when Luffy finally freed himself from the wall. "Ouch ouch ouch!" cried Luffy. "Thanks for helping me Zoro but you didn't have to throw me into a wall." It was then that the straw hat boy noticed that his first mate was nowhere to be seen. "Hey, where's Zoro guys?" When all of his nakama pointed at the two restrained enemies then Luffy got made. "Where's my nakama!?"


	2. Chapter 2

In the town of Ponyville everypony could be seen dashing around and setting up decorations for their upcoming "Ponyville Day" celebration; all except for a pair of earth ponies that is. One was an elderly, lime green colored pony with grey hair that was up in a bun; while the other was a young, orange colored filly who had her long blonde mane and tail hair tied into ponytails with red scrunches and freckles doting her face. "My, it's nice ta see everypony so eager for tomorrow" said the older pony.

"But why does everypony seem extra excited 'bout this year Granny?" asked the filly.

"That's cause the Princess herself is comin' ta Ponyville ta celebrate with us this year, Applejack" answered Granny Smith.

"Really!" gasped the young cowpony. "Why's she comin' this year though? She's hasn't come around for any of 'em before."

"That's cause this celebration is markin' the hundredth year anniversary of when Ponyville was founded and since the Princess herself helped our family find it then she's gonna come an' celebrate it with us" explained the elderly pony.

Applejack smiled excitedly. "Ah can't wait for tomorrow then, it's gonna be so much fun! Can ah do anything ta help out Granny?" asked the filly with eager eyes.

Granny Smith; not wanting to disappoint her granddaughter, scratched her chin with her hoof and gazed around to see how the young filly could help out. She then spotted a young, white coated and purple maned filly who appeared to be elegantly redecorating the town hall. "Why don't ya go an' help that filly over there? She's looks like she could use a hoof with those decorations" suggested the Apple family matriarch.

Applejack glanced over to filly then back to her granny and grinned happily. "Sure thing Granny!" said the young apple excitedly and trotted over to help.

"She's gonna be a great apple farmer when she's older. Might even leave 'er the farm" thought Granny Smith aloud to herself as she slowly trotted off.

Meanwhile, the white coated filly was trying to redecorate Ponyville's to make it looked much more "fabulous" for the Princess Celestia's visit. Right now though she was trying to decide on what color streamer to use. "No, no, no, Celestia no!" exclaimed the unicorn as she came across a "horrendous" looking shade of yellow.

"Howdy!" yelled a voice from behind the purple maned filly; which caused her to leap up and squeal, and she turned around to see who it was. "Ya need any help there?" asked the orange earth filly.

Getting over her initial fright of being scolded for "ruining the decorations" the unicorn answered the blond in a dignified manner. "Well unless you have an acute sense of fashion and design;" she said before she looked over the other pony's untamed hair, sweaty coat, and "too large for her head" stetson a top her head, "which you obviously don't so I'm afraid that I have nothing for you."

"Are ya all sayin' that I ain't got a good sense of dressin'?" asked Applejack; slightly miffed at how the other filly just assumed things about her.

"Well I apologize if my words have offended you uh. I'm sorry but I haven't gotten your name" stated the unicorn.

"Name's Applejack" said the farmer pony holding out a grimy hoof.

The other filly winced at the extended hoof and only proceeded to lightly touch and shake the upper part of the fore hoof; which was the cleanest part, in an awkward greeting. "R-Rarity and again I apologize if my words offended you but you're not exactly the pic of style and finesse."

"Well I'd rather be a hard worker who gets her hooves dirty than a prissy filly who is scared of dirt" said Applejack.

Rarity gasped at that. "I am NOT afraid of dirt! I simply believe that intentionally dirtying ones hooves in order to achieve ones dreams is unnecessary."

Applejack laughed at hearing the other filly's viewpoint. "Maybe for ah fancy unicorn like yerself but fer us Earth ponies gettin' dirty is our way a life" stated Applejack.

"Well I suppose that is true" pondered Rarity. "Very well then, if you're willing to do the work then who am I to deny an earth pony her life's calling of dirt and labor."

"Gee thanks" deadpanned Applejack. "Ah'll try not ta dirty any of yer pretty decorations with ma hooves."

"I would greatly appreciate that darling" said Rarity.

"Hey you two!" called a deep male's voice behind the two fillies. When Applejack and Rarity turned around towards the new voice they saw a large, muscular, and scarred, dark green stallion coming towards them. His size alone caused Rarity to slightly whimper in fright but his firm voice and stern stare is what caused Applejack to step backwards. "Can either of you tell me where the hell I am? Everyone I talk to just cowers away" asked the stallion.

"Y-yo-you're in P-Ponyville" stuttered Applejack.

"And where is that?" asked the stallion.

"Why it's in Equestria young feller" answered an old voice. Everypony turned to see Granny Smith trotting slowly towards them with a teenage Big Macintosh right behind her. "Now could ya please stop scarin' the young-uns"? The stallion looked confused for a second then; after glancing back towards the still frightening fillies, turned back towards the older pony. "So where's Equestria then?"

"What d'ya mean where's Equestria? Have you been livin' under a rock fer the last thousands of years?" asked Granny Smith.

"I just woke up in a forest a couple of hours ago" stated the stallion. "You build your roads far away from your town by the way."

"Far away? But we saw you at the creak right outside of Ponyville" said Mrs. Cup Cake as she trotted by the growing group of ponies with her newlywed husband, Mr. Carrot Cake.

"Then why did it take me hours to get here?" asked the green stallion.

"I honestly haven't got a clue. You were headed straight towards Ponyville last time we saw you" said Mrs. Cup Cake. "You were even headed right down the forest path."

"It disappeared on me" said the stallion.

"But we followed that road to get back and it was in great condition" stated Mr. Carrot Cake.

"Maybe yer sense a direction is off" suggested Granny Smith.

The stallion gritted his teeth at that then said. "Look we're getting off topic is there anyone who can help me get back to my home?"

"'Fraid that there's no one in Ponyville who can help ya ta get out of Equestria. Can you think of anypony Big Macintosh?" asked Granny Smith.

"Nnope" said young red stallion.

The Apple matriarch rubbed her chin with her hoof as she thought. "Well maybe you can wait 'til the Princess comes by tomorrow. If anypony'd be able ta help ya then she'd be it."

The stallion groaned. "So I've got to wait until tomorrow to talk to this princess of yours then. Fine, do any of you know a hotel I can stay at?"

"'Fraid not, but if'n yer willin' ta put in the work then I'm sure ya could stay at our farm fer the night" offered Granny Smith.

The stallion sighed looked at the old pony. "Fine, I guess working in a field could be good enough exercise."

"Yer darn tootin' it is!" hollered Granny Smith. "Now what's yer name sonny?"

"Roronoa Zoro" answered the stallion, only to received odd stares from the surrounding ponies.

"Now that's an' odd name" stated Applejack.

"That we can agree on" said Rarity.

"Eeyup" drawled out Big Mac.

"Why? What're your names?" asked Zoro.

"Well I'm Mrs. Cup Cake and this is my husband Mr. Carrot Cake" introduced the baker pony.

"Name's Applejack! The red stallion is ma brother Big Macintosh and the older one is ma Granny Smith" said Applejack.

"And I'm Rarity" stated Rarity, who was still keeping her distance from the slightly less now intimidating strange green stallion.

'These are some weird ass names' thought Zoro. 'I had better come up with a new one to seem less suspicious."

"Well then ah better take ya back to the farm an' show ya around" stated Granny Smith as she turned around and slowly lead the new stallion away from the group.

"I hope the princess will be able to help that poor dearie" said Mrs. Cup Cake, as she and her husband started to trot away.

"Of course she will honey pie. She is the princess after all" said Mr. Carrot Cake.

"But what if he has amnesia? Do you think the princess can-"

It was then that the couple was too far away to hear anymore and Rarity decided to use the opportunity to voice her opinion. "I hope that your grandmother will be alright. She seems far too trusting and that pony is very odd."

"Ah'm sure she'll be fine. Granny Smith has a good feel fer ponies; she wouldn't 've been so trustin' if he was bad. Right Big Mac?" asked Applejack.

"Eeyup" answered Big Mac, before he started to head off.

"Thanks fer caring so much 'bout ma Granny though Rare" said Applejack gratefully.

"You're quite welcome. Now's let's get this town hall looking fabulous for the Princess, shall we." With that the two ponies started their work, still wondering about the weird pony who they'd just met.


	3. Chapter 3

The barn door burst open and a loud metal banging caused Zoro; who'd been sleeping in a hay pile, to spring to his hooves and unsheathe Wado with his mouth defensively. "Rise an' shine partner, it's time ta get ta work!" hollered Applejack as she came into the barn on her brother's back while banging on a pot that was on his head with a ladle. "An' put that darn weapon away before ya poke somepony's eye out."

Zoro growled at how loud the young Apple was being and sheathed Wado before he glanced out of the open door. "The sun's barely even out" growled Zoro even louder as he plopped back down into the hay only to have an orange filly pounce on him.

"Well this is how early we get up ta work on the farm. Now get yer lazy flank up so ah can get ya ta work" ordered the filly before she turned to her brother. "Ya'll can get goin' Big Mac, ah got it from here." The red stallion gave his little sister a nod before turning away and heading out to do his morning choirs.

Once her brother had left Applejack turned back towards their guest with an eager smile; which disappeared when she saw the angry scowl on his face. "Get off" Zoro commanded and the little filly instantly bolted off of him.

"Heh, sorry 'bout that partner. I fergot that you not exactly the "rearin' ta go" type, but if ya want us ta help ya meet the princess then ya gotta help out here at the farm" said Applejack defiantly once she saw the green stallion lay back down on the hay again.

Zoro groaned, then opened his eyes his at the stern orange filly before him and started to stand up. "Fine, show me what I have to do so I can get back to sleep."

Applejack shook her head. "Sorry partner, but we do our chores from dawn till the afternoon."

"Damn it" growled Zoro; which Applejack apparently didn't hear him say as she was already heading out of the barn. When Zoro stepped out of the barn he saw that the sun was just barely peeking over the mountains and could feel a cold chill in the air. When he arrived here yesterday with the Apple family grandmother he was honestly impressed with how alive and peaceful the farm was compared to his loud and chaotic his life as a member of the Strawhats. Pulling himself out of his thoughts Zoro trotted after the little stetson wearing filly until she stopped at the base of a nearby apple tree.

"Alright partner this here's called Apple buckin'" said Applejack proudly as she reared her hind legs up and bucked the tree with only a few apples falling from it but all making it into the bucket. "Now since ah'm only filly ah ain't strong enough ta buck all of the apples off of the tree but let's see if you can do it."

Zoro simply grunted in reply and went towards another apple tree; mirroring the orange pony as he lifted up his hind legs and bucked the try with seemingly no effort. A loud thud echoed through the fields as Applejack stared expectantly at the tree's apples waiting for them to fall, but her eager expression turned to shock as she watched the entire tree uproot and fall over. "Damn" muttered Zoro, glancing only half concerned at the fallen tree. 'I'm still getting used to this damn horse body' he thought. "Sorry about that" he said, before lazily trotting over to the tree, squeezing himself underneath it and then lifting it straight back up without even breaking a sweat from the tree's weight. After making sure that the tree was straight up again and moving the dirt that had been up rooted back into place he turned back to see that the filly still had her jaw on the ground. "What?"

"H-how in the hay did ya manage ta do that?" asked Applejack.

"I've been training to become stronger every day since I was a kid" explained Zoro.

"A kid? Don't ya mean a colt?" asked the confused filly with a raised eyebrow.

'Right, horses' thought Zoro, mentally hitting himself at forgetting that. "Yeah, so what's next?" he said, hoping to change the subject since he didn't want to reveal anything until he met their "princess".

"Well yer obviously to strong fer apple buckin. So let's try yer hoof at takin' care of the animals" suggested Applejack.

"Do these one talk too?" asked Zoro.

Applejack laughed. "That there's pretty funny Zoro! Ya might not have worked on a farm before, but ya know that the animals can't talk."

"Right and would you mind not calling me Zoro?" asked the green stallion as the pair reached the pens.

Applejack raised an eyebrow at the request. "But that's yer name ain't it?"

"No, I got amnesia and saw that name in a book" answered Zoro, lying through his teeth.

Applejack stared at the stallion with narrowed eyes and for a minute Zoro thought that she hadn't bought his lie but that thought was ended when the filly smiled at him. "Well that would explain why ya miss spoke earlier and why ya," Applejack paused for a moment to snicker into her hoof. "Thought the farm animals could talk.

"Excuse me" said a cow who had been standing on the other side of one of the fences.

"Right, sorry 'bout that. Except fer the cows 'course" stated a grinning Applejack.

Zoro sweat dropped at how strange this world was. 'And I live with a rubber man, a talking reindeer, a pant less cyborg and a talking skeleton.'

"Alright then, let's get ya started on gettin' some eggs from the chickens" said Applejack as she led the stallion over to the coup.

**- 5 minutes later**

"They wouldn't give me the eggs" growled a feather covered Zoro.

"Well ya didn't have ta demand the eggs from 'em. Ya gotta ask 'em kindly fer the eggs" scolded Applejack as she brushed off the feathers that Zoro couldn't reach.

"Well I'm not an animal person so what else do you have to do?" asked Zoro, still a little pissed at how the chicken had pecked and scratched at him. He had to really restrain himself from slicing up those feathered pests with Wado.

"Well there's always plowin' the fields. Ah guess ya could try yer hoof at that" stated Applejack as she led the now feather-free stallion to the fields.

When the pair reached the crop field, Zoro immediately went over to the plow and effortlessly flipped it over to examine the blade with a stern eye.

Applejack looked towards the ground a bit ashamed. "Ah know it's dull. We're supposed ta take it into town next week ta get it sharpened. Ah'm sure that you could still."

The earth pony cut herself off though when she saw that Zoro had already strapped the harness on and was halfway done with his third row, pulling the plow quickly with ease and managing to create perfect rows with the dull blade. When Zoro reached the side that he'd left her on after his fourth row, Zoro saw her shocked face and smirked. 'This little filly, ugh girl, reminds me of Chopper. Why the hell did I say filly?' thought the green stallion before he decided to answer her unspoken question. "A blade is only as dull as its master's mind."

"Woo wee, that's some sayin' partner! Ah'll have ta remember that one" hollered Applejack.

Zoro smirked. 'Just like Usopp and Chopper' he thought before he turned the plow around to start pulling it down the next row. "I can handle the fields for now. You can go do your chores for now and I'll come find you when I'm done" said the stallion as he started to pull away only to pause when the filly spoke up.

"Actually, since ah'm still too small fer apple buckin', too weak fer pullin' the plow, and the critters er still spooked, then all ah got left is ta plant the seed in ta the rows. So ah'm gonna be workin' with you today" stated Applejack happily, lifting her head up to show a happy grin only to have her oversized stetson fall over her face.


	4. Chapter 4

After several hours of hard field work; which even Zoro had to admit was a decent work out, Granny Smith, Applejack and Zoro were trotting to town to hopefully get today's apple sales over with before the celebration was supposed to start. "Thank ya again partner" said Granny Smith as she sat in the apple cart that Zoro was pulling. "With ma old age, Applejack bein' too small, an' Big Mac needin' ta stay behind at the farm ta prepare fer the Princess ta show up, we didn't expect ta be able ta sell today."

"And yer not even breakin' a sweat doin' it! That's amazin' Zoro!" praised Applejack as she hopped around him which was begging to tick him off. During their hours of working together Zoro and Applejack started to become close and while Zoro didn't hate child he still hated their annoying little questions and idolizing.

"I told you not to call me that" growled Zoro in a harsher tone that he'd intended to; which caused the filly's ears to go do and look towards the ground ashamed. Zoro sighed. 'Why do I have to be so damn soft around kids?' he thought, before he placed his hoof on top of her stetson. "Sorry, I just don't like using a name that's not mine."

Applejack looked back up at him; the ashamed look now gone, and asked. "But how do ya know that it ain't yer real name?"

"Because it's so different from everypony else's" he stated before his eyes widened at what he said. 'Why the hell did I say everypony? It's just like earlier when I said filly instead of girl. Being a damn horse must be going to my head.'

When the trio reached the town they saw that everypony was running around frantically. "What the hay's goin' on 'round here?" asked Granny Smith to a passing pegasus.

"The princess is arriving earlier than we planned today" answered the winged stallion before he flew away.

"Great, I won't have wait much longer to get home then" stated Zoro with a smirk.

"So ah guess that you'll be leavin' already then?" asked Applejack sadly from beside the green stallion

Zoro's smirk transformed into a deep scowl upon seeing that. 'Damn it' he growled to himself. 'Why do kids have to be so damn emotional all the damn time?' "Well it may take your princess a week or two to fix my amnesia, so I'll probably have to sta-"said the swordsman before the little filly hopped onto his back.

"Yeehaw!" hollered Applejack from atop an angry Zoro. "This is gonna be just like havin' another big brother in the family!"

Zoro cringed, as what the filly said gave him a flash back of when he'd been dragged into that family when he and the other Strawhats were stuck at Water 7 without a ship (episode 318). "I'm not agreeing to that" he muttered before Granny Smith spoke up.

"Giddy up partner! We gotta get ta sellin' our apples before the princess gets here" ordered the apple matriarch.

Once the Apples and Zoro reached the selling spot the swordsman unstrapped himself from the harness and began trotting away. "Hey where ya goin' Zoro?" asked Applejack as she helped her granny to set up the cart.

"I want to see if I can meet up with this princess of yours before the parade" answered the stallion without looking back.

**- 2 hours later**

Luckily enough there were many ponies who were hungry from hurried Ponyville Day Celebration so the Apples had been able to sell their entire cart right before the parade started. Now, everypony who wasn't a part of it could be found cheering from the sidelines as the various floats that they'd made to celebrate the town's grand celebration pass by them. "Check it out Granny, there's the Princess!" yelled Applejack as she saw the royal chariot being pulled down the road by an escort of gold armor clad royal guard ponies and Equestria's majestic and benevolent ruler waving gracefully to her subjects. "Ah don't see Zoro with her though. Maybe he didn't make it in time ta talk with her" wondered the young Apple.

"Ah doubt that they'd let him walk with the Princess in the parade so maybe he went back ta the farm. The parade is supposed ta go there anyways" suggested Granny Smith before she noticed that the floats had passed and everypony was heading down the road with them, only instead of heading down the path to Sweet Apple Acres the parade was apparently going down a road that Granny Smith recognized right away and gasped.

"What's ah matter Granny?" asked Applejack.

"Those fools are headed down a path my pa closed down years ago. It cut the travel time ta the Acres in half but the cliffs surroundin' it are unstable" explained the Apple matriarch worriedly.

"WHAT!?" screamed Applejack. "We gotta hurry and warn 'em then." The two then took off; or rather Applejack did because of Granny Smith's hip, hoping to stop the parade before anypony was hurt by cliff collapsing.

Meanwhile on top of one of the said cliffs. "How the hell did I end up here?" wondered Zoro aloud before he heard cheering coming from below him. Looking down, Zoro saw that there was a huge gathering of ponies on the cliff side below him cheering at group of floats that was making its way down the road that ran along the cliff. "That must be there parade. Damn disappearing roads, I missed my chance to talk to this princess of their before this whole celebration started."

Zoro was about to just turn around and head back to where he thought that the town was supposed to be when the group below him suddenly became louder in their cheering. Turning back to see what all the noise was about Zoro saw that there was white and gold chariot being pulled by golden armored ponies of all different races. What drew the swordsman's attention though was the tall, pure white coated with a multi colored mane that flowed in an inexistent breeze, unicorn and pegasus mix who was waving to the cheering crowd with one of her gold shoed hooves. "Finally" sighed Zoro in an aggravated relief. "If that's not the princess then ero-cook's not a perverted ass-hole."

Before he could start to head towards his target; and hopefully ticket home, Zoro was stopped when he felt a suddenly violent rumbling coming from lower on the cliff. That was when he saw that the loud cheering and stamping of numerous hooves on the cliff's ridges had caused a rock slide to start and barrel down towards the unsuspecting residents of Ponyville. "Shit" grunted Zoro before he launched himself down the cliff side to save the ponies below. 'I've got to cut these damn rocks down before they can crush anypony' he thought; not even noticing his speech slip up, as he unsheathed Wado with his mouth. "Sanbyakurokuju Pound Ho (360 Pound Cannon)" yelled Zoro as he unleashed his attack on the rock slide effectively reducing many of the larger boulders to smaller ones.

Everypony quickly turned and looked up towards where a large explosion was heard to see a dark green stallion running alongside a rockslide and slashing many of the rocks to near harmless size with a blade. "Get outta here everypony! RUN!" yelled Applejack who'd just arrived to see everypony watching the dangerous rockslide with awe instead of fear. With that wakeup call all of the parade's spectators and participants ran or flew to get out of the way of the disastrous event. All except for a certain purple maned filly who found herself to terrified to move. Luckily for her however Applejack was able to spot her pure white coat and when the cowpony reached her new friend from yesterday she squeezed herself underneath her and lifted the other filly on to back before making a run for safety. "Get a move on Sugarcube!"

Meanwhile the royal guards panicked when they saw half of the cliff coming towards them and their ruler. "Get the princess out of here quickly" yelled one of the unicorn guards to the pegasi who've been pulling the chariot since they landed before taking off in a run himself with the other unicorn. Celestia however hadn't been ready for her guards' sudden take off into the air; as she'd been focusing her magic to keep a particularly large boulder that was rolling apparently unnoticed behind the rockslide, and when the pegasi suddenly lurked the chariot forward the alicorn lost her balance and collided head first onto the ground below, knocking her unconscious.

Zoro meanwhile had managed to cut down the rockslide to a decent enough size to where even if there were still any ponies beneath him that they wouldn't die at least. When he stopped running and resheathed Wado however a massive boulder rolled right past him, using what was left of the former smaller disaster as something of a ramp to launch itself into the air. "At least there aren't anymore-" It was then that Zoro saw Equestria's ruler; who was also his only known chance to get back to his world, lying unconscious at the bottom of the ravine and right in the path of the now flying boulder. "Why the hell isn't that surprising!" roared Zoro as he raced down the cliff at his top speed.

"Where's the princess!?" yelled one of the pegasus guards when he looked back to check on their princess once they were a safe distance away. Their panicked questioning was silenced when a loud crash was heard back in the direction of the cliff. "Oh hay" groaned the guard as he, the other guards and the Ponyville residents raced off to see if their ruler was still at the cliff and hopefully still in one; none flat, piece.

**- Back at the ravine**

Celestia groaned from the pain pulsing through her head and opened her eyes to see what had happened. When she did however, all see saw was dark green and rock. "You awake?" asked a strained and deep male's voice. It was then Celestia noticed that the dark green she'd seen before was actually a large earth stallion's coat and when she gazed further up she saw to stern eyes gazing down at her.

"Y-yes I am" she answered, lifting her head to get a better view of their apparent situation. What she saw was nothing that she'd ever seen in her thousand-plus years of life. The boulder; which she'd remember being rather large from afar, was actually massive up close as is the entire cliff itself had rolled itself into a ball just to tumble down on them. This isn't what surprised her however; what did caused the ruler of Equestria to go nearly slack jawed was the fact that this one stallion was holding the boulder on his back and what's even more amazing is that he only seems to be slightly fatigued by this. She's never seen any earth pony, unicorn, pegasus, or even alicorn come close to being able to lift even a fifth of this amount of weight for even a second.

"Hey! Quit day dreaming damn it!" yelled the mysterious stallion, effectively breaking the alicorn out of her awe struck daze.

"Oh, I apologize for my inconsiderate behavior. Especially as it appears as though you have saved my life" said Celestia gratefully.

"That's great and all but can you help me get this damn rock off my back!" roared the stallion.

Celestia was taken aback by this stranger's brash behavior towards her and rather foul choice of words. She was just about to scold him too until she remembered his predicament and glanced at the boulder again. "I am afraid that even I may only be able to keep this elevated for a short while" she stated, rather saddened by the fact that she wouldn't be able to be of much more help to her subject.

"That's fine just do it" groaned the stallion as the weight had finally started to take its toll on him. Celestia nodded before focusing her magic and lifting the boulder slightly off of him. In the split second after she did the green earth pony unsheathed his strange weapon and said. "Ittoryu Iai: Shi Shishi Sonson" (One Sword Style Draw and Resheath Technique: Lion's Song of Death). The next thing that Celestia knew the entire boulder split in half and fell to the ground around them with a loud crash.

This time the Equestrian princess did let her jaw hang open in surprise before she shook it off and turned towards the mysterious green stallion about to ask him several questions only to see him lying on the ground unable to move. "Are you alright Mr.-I apologize but I never got your name" stated the alicorn with a worried stare at her seemingly injured savior.

"Firstly; of course I'm not alright that damn boulder landed on my spine!" roared the stallion, only to groan and start to shakingly stand up on his hoof. "Secondly, my name is- He paused suddenly realizing that he'd never thought of a name. "Pirate Hunter, no that won't fit with the names I've heard so far they may not even have pirates in this world. Moss Head, ero-cook would really get a laugh out of that if they came to get me. I remember seeing my three katana tattooed on the sides of my hind legs so maybe Santoryu? No, I doubt that they know what that means. What about Three Sword, no, Three Blade, Triple Blade, Tri-Blade. I'll go with that one.' "Name's Tri-Blade" he finally answered after about a minute of awkward silence on Celestia's part.

"That is a rather unique name and to get a name so close to your cutie mark is quite rare. I am Princess Celestia, it is a pleasure to meet you Tri-Blade" said Celestia in her usual kind demeanor, extending her hoof to shake her savior's only to have another awkward silence pass when the stallion didn't move.

"As much as I want to shake your hoof, or kiss it, or whatever the hell you're supposed to do to royalty I was holding that boulder for a while waiting for you to wake up so I can't exactly move right now" explained Zoro, putting no tact into what he says no matter who he's talking to as usual.

Celestia was taken aback by his brashness again only to giggle at the stern face and glare that he was trying to maintain. "Very well then. Allow me to fly you to the hospital for treatment" said Celestia, levitating the grumpy stallion onto her back.

Zoro really wasn't thrilled about having to be carried by anyone but his aching back caused him to just scowl instead. "Fine, as long as they don't put any of those damned bandages on me. Those things are constricting as hell" growled the swordsman.

Celestia giggled again at the stallion stubborn and slightly childish request. "Well it depends on whether or not the doctors request that you be placed in them. If you must be then I will not stop them from doing so" stated Celestia, before her eyes narrowed slightly. "We will also have to do something about that language of yours. Those words you are using do not sound to be particularly appropriate so I would prefer that you not use them around my little ponies." With that Equestrian ruler took in flight back towards Ponyville, careful not to damage her cargo on the way.


	5. Chapter 5

"Come on Granny, we're never gonna be able ta see Zo-Tri-Blade if ya don't hurry!" hollered Applejack as she guided her elder through the large group of ponies that crowded the hospital's entrance. After word had spread of the princess's rescue by the town's newest pony seemingly everypony in Ponyville along with a few paparazzi ponies swarmed the hospital's front entrance to hopefully get a glimpse of the two. Luckily for them though Celestia's guards had managed to reach the establishment right after their ruler had and formed a blockade to keep the crowd out.

When Applejack and Granny Smith finally managed to reach the entrance they found themselves blocked off from entering just like everypony else. "Now why won't ya let us in?" asked the orange filly.

"Only hospital faculty, injured ponies or family members are allowed in at this time" stated one of the royal guards.

"But we're Tri-Blade's friends. He's been livin' an' workin' at our farm since he got here" explained Applejack sadly at the thought of not being able to see her new friend.

The guard stared unaffected by the filly's saddened gaze as he started to restate his orders. "I'm sorry but only immediate family members ca-"

"Let them through" ordered a familiar deep voice.

The guard ponies glanced back towards the voice to see their ruler coming out of the hospital beside the dark green stallion who'd saved her and once Celestia nodded in answer to the guards' silent stares they stood down as instructed, allowing the orange and lime green ponies to pass. Applejack leapt into the air as soon as she reached the pair and wrapped Zoro into a hug before she bonked him on the head with her hoof. "Now just what were you thinkin' puttin' yerself in danger like that? I mean, I'm glad that ya saved the princess an everythin' but ya coulda been killed doin' it" reprimanded the Apple filly before she remembered whose presence she was in and bowed before the princess. "Ah'm mighty sorry 'bout that yer highness. Ah shoulda noticed you before started yellin' at him."

Celestia giggled at the young filly's criticizing and apologizing before she said. "It's quite alright young one. Your concern is understandable and I would do the same if one of my loved ones had done the same."

Applejack lifted her head up to smile gratefully at the princess only for her oversized stetson to drop over her face again. When she lifted it back up though whatever she was going to say was lost when she saw the look that Zoro had in his eyes, a look of resolve and determination. "So ah guess that the two of you had yer talk then?" asked the filly.

"Yeah and we managed to cut a deal but." Zoro paused for a moment to; not really looking forward to saddening the orange colored pony. 'Damn kids' growled the swordspony mentally before he shook his head slightly and answered. "I'm going to have to live in Canterlot until the Princess can figure out how to solve my problem."

"Really, how come?" asked Applejack.

**- Flashback**

Celestia stared at towards the hospital room that; after nearly ten minutes of arguing, finally went silent and waiting with a calm patience for somepony to exit it. Finally the door opened and the earth mare doctor; who'd entered the room right before the shouting started, trotted out with a frustrated red face. "Your friend will be fine your highness but he refuses to wear any restraints what so ever that would restrain his movements. Even though I explained to him numerous times that he wouldn't have to wear them for very long and well. I'd like to speak freely for a moment if you'd allow me to your highness."

"Please go right ahead" said Celestia.

"Your friend is outrageously frustrating and beyond any kind of stubbornness I've ever seen. I would honestly watch yourself around someone who's so, disobedient" stated the doctor, growling slightly at the last work.

Celestia couldn't help but giggle at what the doctor had just told her. "Well he does seem to be a little rough around the edges now doesn't he? There's no need for concern however doctor I plan on finding some way to keep a cushion between each other" said the Equestrian ruler as she trotted into Tri-Blade's room. As some as she entered and shut the door with her magic Celestia's kind stare turned to a stern one. "Now then, would you mind telling me where you're from?"

"How do you know I'm not from here?" asked Zoro, not even bothering to open his eyes and look at the princess.

"You use words and terms that are uncommon of anywhere I know of, have demonstrated a masterful amount of skill with a sword of unfamiliar design, have strength beyond any pony I've ever met in my thousand plus years of life and your magical essence is different than anything in Equestria" listed off the alicorn before taking a breath and narrowing her gaze. "So who are you and where have you come from? Answer truthfully or I will take it as a threat to my subjects and lock you away into the depths Tartarus myself" threatened Celestia now using her royal voice to hopefully intimidate the stranger enough to make him tell the truth. She truthfully didn't like using the royal voice but she was willing to take any and all measures to ensure the safety of her little ponies.

She was thoroughly surprised however when Zoro simply opened his non scared eye to stare at the princess with no reaction towards her act what so ever. "Look Princess I'm not here to hurt anyone unless I have to. The only reason I even saved your ass was because your subjects told me that you could help me to get home" stated the swordsman before he chuckled. "By the way, that was a poor as excuse for intimidation. If you really want to scare someone into working with you then you're to need a lot more than a loud voice. Something like." Zoro then stepped down off of his hospital bed without even showing any sign of his slight former fatigue and took a crouched stance while glaring back up towards the ruler, pushing out some of his massive killer intent to top his example off.

Celestia's breath caught in her throat and she took a step backwards into the door from the sight before her. From where she was watching she couldn't even recognize the green stallion any more as he now seemed to have been replaced by a predator from the darkest depths of the Everfree Forest. From beneath the shadow given off by his in place black bandana that covered his eyes shown a lone eye that was filled with so much feral danger that it sent a sweat of raw fear down the powerful alicorn ruler's face.

Just as it had formed however the paralyzing demonstration that Zoro had brought disappeared once he stop back up and the shadow disappeared from over his eyes. "If I wanted to hurt your ponies then I would've let that rockslide crush you all and then I would've cut the survivors to shreds" stated the green stallion.

With the feral creature replaced with the familiar earth pony Celestia was able to breath easily once again. "And I'm extremely grateful for your non-violent approach. I apologize if my rash conclusions have caused you to distrust me."

"It's fine, you were only looking to protect your friends. I've done the same thing more times than I can remember" said Zoro.

"Well then now that we're on friendly terms once again I must ask for you to explain your situation to me if I'm to help you" said Celestia as she used her magic to pull a chair up for herself while Zoro plopped back down onto his bed.

"Just don't ask a bunch of annoying questions" said the swordsman as he began his story telling his story.

To say that Celestia's mind was sent over the moon enough to be seen by Luna by the end of her accomplice's story would've been a sever understatement. Not only was he a wanted member of an infamous pirate crew, but the world that he lived in and the friends whom he'd lived within it with was beyond anything that she or anyone in Equestria could've ever possibly imagined and she would've actually listed him off as crazy if it wasn't for the look of raw truth that lay in his eyes. "W-well that certainly is an interesting story" said Celestia with a still processing mind. "I can't say that I'm particularly unfamiliar with other dimensions but I've never created a portal to one myself and the only pony who has is long since passed."

"Damn it" growled Zoro. "Well did whoever was able to make the portals leave any books behind or something?"

"Oh Starswirl left many of his notes and various other writings behind. Unfortunately there are a great many of them and it will take a rather long time to look through them all and with my royal duties to attend to it could take several years" stated Celestia.

Zoro gritted his teeth so hard at the news that the alicorn thought that they might break. "God damn it!" yelled Zoro, as he knocked a hole in a nearby wall with a single hoof punch. Celestia was taken aback by this outburst of rage and violence but simply decided to let him vent and pay for any damages later. She didn't have to wait for long however as Zoro seemed to meditate for a while with his hoof still through the wall and managed to feign a calm after a moment. "It's not like I have any other choice but what the hell am I supposed to do while I'm waiting for you to get me home?"

"Well that actually brings me to an arrangement I hope you'll consider. I wish to request that you become my guardian during your time here in Equestria" stated Celestia.

"Why the hell would you need a guardian you have an entire group of guards and aren't you supposed to be this place's strongest being or something?" asked Zoro.

"Well as you saw from today's events even I'm vulnerable to danger ever now and then so I wish for you to become my personal guard until your fated day to leave comes" explained Celestia.

Zoro thought about it for a second. "Well it's not like I haven't baby sat before" he thought aloud to himself with a shiver going up his spine once again from his adventure at Water 7.

"Excuse me?" asked Celestia, wanting to see if what she'd heard about this highly intimidating stallion actually babysitting was true.

Zoro choked a bit when he realized that he'd thought aloud and that the princess might've heard him. "Nothing" grunted Zoro. "As long as I get a place to stay and some of whatever the hell this world's money is then I'll do it."

"Very well" agreed Celestia. "You may have a room at the castle and a reasonable amount of access to the royal funds."

"Fine" agreed Zoro as he and Celestia did an awkward; at least it was for Zoro, hoof shake to seal their deal.

"By the way, should I call you Zoro or Tri-Blade?" asked Celestia.

"Just stick to Tri-Blade" answered Zoro. "I'll stick out less that way."

**- Back to the present **

"So you're gonna be the Princess's bodyguard!?" asked Applejack excitedly while everypony else who'd heard was slack jawed.

"Yeah, so I'll be going back to Canterlot with her" answered Zoro.

"Well, you'll come an' visit us at least right?" asked the filly with a now slightly down look.

'Damn sad kids' thought Zoro before he pushed down on the cowpony's stetson as he had many times already today. "I'll come by whenever I'm not busy" stated Zoro.

"Well ya have ta promise me that it'll be at least once a month" said Applejack, gazing back up with determined eyes.

"I can't just-" Zoro started to say before nudge from behind caused him to look back towards Celestia who nodded at him with her usual graceful smile. "Fine" he agreed although he also had another reason for coming back. 'Those idiots had better come to get me soon. I don't want to be trapped in this nauseatingly colorful world for longer than I have to.' "On one condition Applejack" he said suddenly.

"Sure anythin'" said Applejack, happy that she'd still get to see her new friend without having to worry about his busy new schedule getting in the way.

"I need you to keep an eye out for anyon-anypony that seems weird to you" said Zoro.

"An' what do ya mean by weird?" asked Applejack.

"They'll probably act just like I did when you first met me" explained Zoro before he remembered one important detail. "Except they'll be a lot louder and obnoxious about it."

With that Applejack leapt up to hug the green stallion again. "Ah promise!" yelled the filly despite her being right next to the other pony's ear.

"Right like that" groaned Zoro as his right ear pulsed from the obnoxiously loud promise. He then turned to the Apple family matriarch after the orange pony released him. "Thanks for letting me stay at your place" he said, not used to thanking people for things.

"Not a problem partner. Feel free ta stay at the farm whenever ya come an' visit us. We could always use the extra hooves on the fields" said Granny Smith, which caused everypony around to chuckle at the old pony's reasoning. "Course, just havin' ya come an' visit will be nice too." And with that the newly named Tri-Blade and Princess Celestia headed towards the alicorn's chariot with the royal guards close behind.


End file.
